I’m announcing a new series this week, one I’ve been thinking of for a long time – “Three Places You Have to Go.”
The idea is that we all have our list of restaurants and eating experiences we recommend to friends when they come into town, and I want to start compiling them. I know my three favorite places in Santa Barbara, Rome, Kauai, and London for starters. And I have friends in foodie meccas like Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York. In fact, our own Beth Whitman is one of the best restaurant recommenders I know, considering she leads food tours to Santa Fe and Seattle (someday, I’m hoping Bangkok makes the list).
I can’t think of a more fitting way to start this off than the giant list by OpenTable, as reported on RestaurantNews.com. The list was generated using 5 million user reviews over the course of last year.
“California restaurants earned 24 spots on the list, followed by New York with 18 winners. Virginia boasts six winning restaurants, trailed by Arizona, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania with four honorees apiece. North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Washington, D.C. all have three winning restaurants, while Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio have two each. Connecticut earned a single spot, as did Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Restaurants serving American fare dominated the list; French cuisine is also strongly represented.”
Here are the top 20 Diners’ Choice Award Winners for the Top 100 Best Restaurants in the U.S.